Tag: comedy tips

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I Did a Show and Bombed! Am I Fired From Comedy Forever?

Recently, a former student sent me a panicked midnight email: “I did a show and completely bombed. It was awful. Does this mean I should stop doing comedy?”

My answer is: Yes. Your comedy license has been instantly revoked. You have ten days to return your microphone to the nearest Chuckle Hut.

But seriously, every comedian bombs. Beginners bomb. Professionals bomb. Famous comedians whose Netflix specials you watched last night eat it on a semi-regular basis. I bombed twice writing this sentence! The main difference is that experienced comics have bombed so many times that one terrible show doesn’t immediately make them delete their Instagram.

After a bomb, there’s a simple process that always works.

First, get blackout drunk. Second, never think or speak of the set again. Third, rinse and repeat as needed until you’re a superstar.

In reality, try to get back on stage as soon as possible, ideally the same night, even at an open mic. Doing it again will train your nervous system to not go into negativity spirals. The more reps you get, the less each one affects your self-worth. And if you can’t get on another stage the same night, watch a TV show that makes you laugh or something.

Then the next day, start an actual post-mortem. (Which you should do after good shows too!) “I bombed” feels like useful information, but it’s actually just the beginning of the investigation.

After a bad set, I recommend doing something comedians hate doing: wait until you’re slightly less emotional and actually listen to the recording. Where did you lose them? Were there any laughs you forgot about because you were busy remembering the three minutes of pain? What would you change next time? Pick one or two things to work on instead of deciding that your entire comedic identity was a clerical error.

Figure out what kind of bomb you had. Did none of your jokes work? Did your first two jokes fail and then you panic-sped through the next eight? Did jokes that normally work suddenly get nothing? Was everyone else bombing too? Was the audience drunk, tired and/or chatty? It’s somehow possible to have all three things happen at once. Were all thirty people sitting super far from the stage, or was the entire audience four people, three of whom were asleep? (That’s a real show I’ve done!)

If jokes that normally work suddenly stopped working, don’t immediately rewrite your entire act. One audience is one audience. Sometimes the room is bad. Sometimes you went up at the wrong time. Sometimes they just don’t like your face. I’ve had audiences hate me before I finished saying hello. Apparently my eyebrows have range.

On the other hand, if the same joke dies three shows in a row, congratulations: now you have data. Maybe the premise isn’t clear. Maybe the setup takes too long. Maybe you’re stepping on the punchline. Maybe the joke simply isn’t funny enough yet. This is why getting reps matters. One bad set can be random. Multiple bad sets in the same place usually means you should stop blaming Mercury being in retrograde and rewrite or remove the joke.

Also, bombing is its own skill. One of my best skills is what I call “bombing gracefully” where I’m not getting the response I want and deserve, I’m frustrated but the crowd, the other comics and the bookers don’t even realize it. Sometimes making a potentially horrible situation simply an “unremarkable” set is harder to accomplish than getting huge laughs with an already hot crowd.

When you’re new, the first joke doesn’t work and your brain goes: WE’RE DYING. EVACUATE THE BUILDING. Then you start talking faster, stop pausing, abandon your personality and stare at the audience like they’re personally responsible for your mortgage. You also mentally leave the room and do your jokes like someone pulled a string in your back.

With experience, you learn to slow down, acknowledge what’s happening in a funny way, change gears, try different material, and occasionally turn a terrible room into a merely mediocre one. Progress!

And sometimes you did everything reasonably well and still bombed. That’s one of the deeply stupid things about stand-up. You can write, prepare, rehearse and perform something that worked great on Friday, then say virtually the same words Saturday and receive the kind of silence normally reserved for someone reading a will. There are too many variables to judge yourself from one show.

The goal isn’t to reach a point where you never bomb again. If you keep performing, you’re going to bomb again. The goal is to get better on average, bomb less often, recover faster, and learn more when it happens. So no, you’re not fired from comedy forever. Unfortunately, you still have to come back to work tomorrow.

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How to Adjust Your Stand-Up Comedy for International Audiences

One of the questions comedians ask all the time is:

“How do you tailor your comedy for audiences in different countries when everyone’s sense of humor is so different? Or even in different parts of America?

The answer is: less than you probably think… but more than not at all.

You don’t need a completely different act for every country you visit. Nor do you need to fully change it up for Oklahoma vs California. But you also can’t assume that what kills in New York will automatically work in Costa Rica, Scotland, or Tokyo.

Here’s a simple approach that works.

1. Build an Act That Works for Tourists

One of the best testing grounds for international material is performing for tourists.

If a joke consistently works for people visiting from all over the world, there’s a good chance it’ll travel well. On the other hand, if a joke only works because everyone understands a very specific New York reference, it may not be the best choice for an international audience.

That doesn’t mean local jokes are bad. It just means they aren’t always portable.

2. Go Through Your Set and Cut the Risky Material

Before the show, look through your act and ask yourself:

“Would someone who has never been to my city (or country) understand this?”

If the answer is probably not, save that joke for another audience.

You don’t need to throw those jokes away forever. You just want to increase your chances of getting laughs by choosing material that’s easier for everyone to follow.

3. Think About Who You’re Actually Performing For

“International audience” isn’t specific enough.

There can be a huge difference between:

  • Tourists visiting a country
  • Expats who live there
  • Locals who speak English fluently
  • Audiences hearing English as a second language

Those groups often respond very differently.

If English isn’t everyone’s first language, simplify your act. That doesn’t mean making it less funny. It means making it easier to understand.

Choose jokes with clearer setups. Use simpler vocabulary. Avoid unnecessary complexity that makes the audience work harder than they need to.

If you’re performing for native English speakers living abroad, you can usually perform much closer to your regular act while adding a few local observations to acknowledge where you are.

4. Expect Some of Your Predictions to Be Wrong

No matter how much preparation you do, you’ll guess wrong sometimes.

A joke you thought would never work might become the biggest laugh of the night.

A joke you’ve done hundreds of times might suddenly get silence.

That’s normal. Just don’t panic, make a joke about it and keep going.

The goal isn’t to predict everything perfectly. The goal is to pay attention and adjust in real time.

Great comedians don’t just perform their set—they perform that audience.

5. Learn From Every Show

If you’re doing multiple shows in the same city or country —or for similar audiences—don’t treat each performance like it’s happening in a vacuum.

Listen back to your recordings.

Notice what consistently worked, what confused people, and what got a bigger response than expected.

Then make adjustments before the next show.

The fastest way to get better at performing internationally isn’t guessing better. It’s doing more of those shows and making adjustments in between.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need a completely different act for every country you visit.

Instead:

  • Test material that works for a broad range of audiences.
  • Remove jokes that rely on highly local references.
  • Adjust based on who is actually in the room.
  • Stay flexible during the show.
  • Learn from every performance.

The more audiences you perform for, the better you’ll get at recognizing what makes people laugh everywhere—and what only works back home.

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How to Get Back Into Stand-Up Comedy After Taking A Break

Whether you took a couple of weeks off, six months, or somehow blinked and realized it’s been two years since your last set, getting back on stage can feel weird.

Your jokes suddenly feel like they belong to someone else. You vaguely remember your act, but it feels like it happened in another lifetime.

The good news? That’s completely normal.

Here are a few ways to knock the rust off before your next show.

1. Watch Your Most Recent Set

Before you write anything new, watch one or two of your most recent performances.

You’ll remember jokes you forgot you had, tags you stopped saying, and transitions that used to happen naturally. More importantly, you’ll remember what it looked like when you were comfortable on stage.

2. Perform Your Entire Set Out Loud

Don’t just read your notes.

Actually perform your set.

Stand up, talk at full volume, use the pauses, and go through the entire thing from beginning to end.

You’ll probably stumble over a few sections. Good. Better to find those in your living room than in front of an audience.

3. Say Your Set List From Memory

Even if you don’t have time to run your whole act, say your set list out loud.

Just naming the topics in order helps rebuild the mental roadmap of your act.

Instead of wondering, “What comes after the dating joke?” your brain starts reconnecting the pieces before you ever get on stage.

4. Start Preparing a Few Days Early

One mistake comedians make is reviewing their set only on the day of the show.

Instead, start two or three days earlier.

Watch one video of yourself each day leading up to the performance. You don’t even have to study it. Just watch it.

By the time you get on stage, your material won’t feel nearly as distant because your brain has already been thinking about it.

5. Use Open Mics to Get Comfortable Again

If you can hit a couple of open mics before the show, great.

Don’t put pressure on yourself to write ten new jokes.

The goal is simply to get your timing, confidence, and stage instincts back.

Sometimes the biggest thing you’re rebuilding isn’t your material—it’s your rhythm.

6. Take a Comedy Class

If it’s been a while since you’ve performed, sometimes the hardest part isn’t remembering your jokes—it’s getting yourself back into the habit of doing comedy.

A good stand-up comedy class gives you a deadline, regular stage time, and people expecting to see you perform each week. Instead of wondering, “Should I hit an open mic tonight?” you’re already committed.

You’ll also get feedback on what’s working, what’s worth cutting, and whether the “rust” you’re feeling is actually just in your head.

This Is Especially Helpful If You Perform Infrequently

Not every comedian gets on stage every night.

Maybe you’re busy with work or family. Maybe you only perform on weekends. Maybe you produce your own shows. Maybe you perform in another language and those opportunities only come around every few weeks.

Whatever the reason, if you’re regularly going two or three weeks between performances, having a simple “getting back into comedy” routine can make a huge difference.

The Bottom Line

If you’ve been away from stand-up for a while, don’t panic.

Your material is probably in better shape than you think.

Before your next show:

  • Watch one or two recent sets.
  • Run your entire act out loud.
  • Say your set list from memory.
  • Watch a video of yourself each day for a few days before the show.
  • Hit an open mic if you can.

You’ll feel far more prepared than if you simply hope it all comes back once the host says your name.

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“What if I’m just not funny?”

Recently, a former student emailed asking, “What if I’m just… not funny?”

My answer: First: maybe. Comforting start, I know. I only offer emotional support during class hours. Respect my boundaries. But “not funny” is usually too broad to be useful. A better question is: was this joke funny, to this audience on this night, told this way, by you, at this point in your development? Stand-up is an ever evolving pop-quiz administered by drunk strangers who never taught the subject.

Sometimes an audience will just hate your face. Like literally. There are nights where your energy, your look, your topic, your first joke, the room temperature, or the fact that the audience had three margaritas and a workplace layoff announcement earlier that day all combine into: “No thanks, comedy kid.” That doesn’t mean you’re not funny. It means one crowd rejected one version of you for 5 to 55 minutes. Annoying and painful? Yes. Legally binding? No.

More often, you’re probably funny, but the material choice was wrong for that crowd. A smart little joke about your therapist may crush in a class show and die at a sports bar where a skinny guy named Fat Sal is yelling at the Knicks. That doesn’t mean the joke is bad. It might mean the context was wrong, the setup was too long, the premise needed more clarity, or the audience needed a joke that hit faster before you earned the weirder stuff.

Also: you might not be funny enough yet. That’s not an insult. That’s the point of practicing and getting reps. Comedy is a skill. You get better at writing, trimming, pausing, listening, adjusting, and not looking like you’re waiting for a firing squad after every punchline. Nobody hears one bad piano lesson and says, “I guess I’m not musical.” But in comedy, people do one open mic where eight comics stare into their phones and suddenly decide God revoked their joke license.

And sometimes you are funny, but you don’t yet have the experience to handle a bad room: too drunk, too tired, too chatty, too cold, too corporate, too weirdly seated, too “we just came from a funeral but didn’t want to waste the babysitter.” Experienced comics don’t magically avoid bad crowds. They’ve just dealt with more bad crowds than you and learned how to make them better by failing. 

So don’t ask, “Am I funny?” Ask: What worked? What didn’t? What can I adjust? And how do I get more reps so one bad crowd doesn’t become my entire self-image?

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Should I Quit Stand-up Comedy?

Recently, a former student emailed asking, “I took a different comedy class (scheduling, sorry!) and the instructor told me my jokes felt ‘old-fashioned’ and wouldn’t work with audiences. Now I’m wondering… does that mean I should just quit?”

A student at one of our packed class graduation shows. (This student is not the one who emailed me.)

My answer: One comedy teacher not liking your jokes does not mean you should quit comedy. (Even if that teacher were me — which it wasn’t. I try to focus on what’s working and how to make it stronger.) All this means is: one comedy teacher didn’t like your jokes. Which is annoying, yes. Possibly useful, perhaps. A divine verdict from the Council of All Laughter? No.

That said, if someone says your jokes feel “old-fashioned,” it’s worth asking what they actually mean. Do they mean the references are dated? The rhythm feels too setup-punchline in a way that sounds written instead of spoken? The premise feels like it belongs to a different era? Or do they just mean, “This isn’t my taste,” but with more confidence and less usefulness?

The better question is not, “Should I quit?” The better question is: what am I really trying to say here, and what is the funny part? Once you know that, you can usually update the joke without betraying yourself. Sometimes one word, one reference, or one sharper angle makes the same idea feel more current. You’re not getting a comedy facelift. You’re just changing the lighting.

And sometimes the answer is: don’t hide the old-fashioned part. Use it. If your style is a little retro, formal, theatrical, cranky, wholesome, vaudevillian, whatever — great. Make that part of the joke. Let the audience know you’re in on it. “I know this sounds like it was written on a telegram, but stay with me.” Now the thing that sounded like a flaw becomes part of your point of view.

So no, don’t quit because one class didn’t click. Quit only if you genuinely don’t enjoy it anymore. But if you still like writing, performing, figuring out what makes people laugh, and occasionally humiliating yourself under fluorescent lighting for personal growth, then keep going. Find the version of your style that works in front of today’s audiences — not because someone told you to become someone else, but because the goal is to become the funniest version of you.

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How To Seem Confident

When starting out in stand-up comedy, it’s hard to feel confident. What if you forget your material? Will the audience laugh or not? You often don’t feel in control. So here are some tips to keep in mind that might help:

– Practice your jokes and whole routine out loud. The first step to coming off confident is feeling prepared. So before you leave your house or get out of your car, say the jokes you plan on saying out loud until you feel you know it. This will help much more than you think.

– Go up on the stage looking at the audience and smile before starting to talk. Let the audience take you in for a couple of seconds before you start. Don’t focus on getting the mic out of the stand. Focus on the audience. This makes them feel like you’re there with them, instead of a puppet whose string was pulled when you start talking.

– Start with a greeting like “hello” not with the word “so” or “ummm.” If you were talking to a new person at a bar, your first word wouldn’t be “so” or “umm” – it’d be “hey” or “hi”. Comedy should feel like talking to a friend or new pal at a bar.

– Talk slower. Confident people talk slowly because they believe what they have to say is so important, people won’t interrupt. Nervous people talk a mile a minute. If you think you’re going too slow, you can still slow down!

– Sound excited about what you’re sharing. While you shouldn’t talk quick and nervously, you should still change the inflection in your voice and sound excited about your material. If your tone is “oh god here are the words that need to be said” you’re screwed.

– Look people in the eye. Or at least look at their forehead, they’ll think you’re making eye contact. People with low confidence look at the floor or over the audience.

– Look at different spots of the audience. But don’t scan nervously. Pick three friendly faces – one in the middle, one a little to the left, and one a little to the right. Pretend like you’re facilitating a four person conversation, where you want everyone to feel included as you’re talking. But not in a nervous “oh god are they still listening or are they now on their phone?!?” sort of way. 

– Take pauses in the middle of sentences, as well as after the punchline. But don’t “freeze” as you wait for laughs, laugh to yourself or do some sort of physical action that matches your bit. A lot of comedy is timing, picking your spots to pause helps increase anticipation of the funny part.

– Mental bonus: Before going up, remind yourself that you’re a funny person, and that it doesn’t matter if the crowd “seems bad” before you – that’s just because they’re waiting for you to make them laugh and you will impose your hilarious will on them.

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Repeating Jokes At Open Mics

Recently a former student emailed asking, “If I stick to one open mic and go weekly, should I focus on trying new material each time, or is it okay to practice the same set a few times, even if it’s the same audience?”

We would recommend do a mix. It’s fine to do the same set (with maybe some minor tweaks) for 3-4 weeks in a row (if you don’t have anything new you’re excited to try).

But we’d avoid doing the exact same set for months on end at the same mic.

Also keep in mind the “audience” usually changes every week, at least partially.

The main thing should be to do a short joke or two at the start that you know is funny, so you can then gauge the rest of the laughs of the set based on that. 

For example, if the joke you know usually works gets an okay laugh, then that level of laugh or higher is what you want for anything new you’re trying.

If a good joke doesn’t land at all, and then no other jokes land, then you know it was just a weird vibe.

If a good joke doesn’t land at all, and then a new joke does land, you might have a really good new joke!

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Comedy Open Mics Recommendations

Recently a former student emailed asking, “Do you have any recommendations for the best open mics for newbies?”

First, to see a current list of open mics, check out badslava.com

Our main recs for open mics are:

  1. Try something new every time. It can be a one word change or a brand new joke, but don’t do the exact same set word for word every time.
  2. Go where it’s convenient for you – aka almost no mic is worth an 80-minute subway ride.
  3. Try a mic, if you like the vibe, keep coming back and become a regular. If you don’t like it, try somewhere else. (But keep in mind the vibe might shift a little week to week.)
  4. If you can find a music mic that allows comedians, those tend to be better because the musicians are “real audience” and not other comedians.
  5. A slight laugh at a mic is usually a good sign.
  6. Have low expectations. The main benefits of a mic are:

a) practicing saying words out loud while people look at you – which makes your delivery different than when you’re talking into your hairbrush at home

b) you meet other comedians and make friends and maybe do their shows

c) you get comfortable with silence, so when you’re in front of real crowds and something doesn’t hit, you don’t panic

d) you see what material to avoid based on what everyone and their mother keeps repeating.

e) working on riffing and being in the moment and thinking on your feet

Notice how the benefits don’t include “getting standing ovations” and “feeling great about comedy” – that’s because most mics will not give you that outcome. But as long as you know in advance, you won’t be disappointed.

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Producing a Show: Running The Show

Congratulations! You’ve got a venue, you’ve booked comics and there’s lots of people in the audience. Now the real headache begins! One hundred things can and will go wrong every time you run a show.

Before getting into all the details, if you remember nothing else about running a show, remember to:

Be flexible and don’t panic!

With that said, here’s what to do when you’re running a stand-up comedy show.
(Note: Some of these steps aren’t necessary depending on the venue.)

  • Set up and test the equipment, rearrange furniture if needed
  • Work the box office selling tickets (if you’re charging cover) and check-in people who pre-purchased tickets
  • Seat people (towards the front first!)
  • Make pre-show announcements (turn off pagers, any drink minimums, etc)
  • Introduce and bring up the MC
  • Decide the order of comics and how much time each comic is doing and tell them
  • Keep track of how much time each comic is doing
  • Light the comic when they have one minute remaining
  • Let the waitresses know when to drop the checks (if applicable)
  • Make an announcement to clear the room after the show ends (if applicable)
  • Put the room back how you found it

Here’s some common problems and possible solutions:

The line up needs to be changed

You should have a lineup in advance that lists the order of the comics and how long each comic is doing. However, unless you’re producing a MC – Feature – Headliner format, the lineup almost always changes at the last minute. Treat your original lineup as a starting hypothesis and not like the Ten Commandments. When making line up changes the most important thing to keep in mind is if there’s a hard stop time that the show must be over by. If so, work backwards from there. And don’t forget to add 30 to 60 seconds between comics for the MC to have time to bring up the next comedian.

The show has to end earlier than scheduled

All your comics are on time and don’t run the light, but suddenly management decides you only have 70 minutes instead of 100. The most important thing to do, is not get pissy at management. Asking them if they can do anything about giving the show more time is okay, just don’t get into a yelling match with them or anything. When this happens, be ready to cut everyone’s time. Most comics will be understanding about this. You might also consider taking yourself off of the show to save time.

Comics go longer than you want

Comics run the light way too often. If you’re a comic reading this, you’ve probably run the light a few times yourself. If the show is running late, make sure to remind comics not to run the light. If you stress how tight the show is, they’re less likely to do it (although it’s not guaranteed). Be ready to keep waving the light until they come off stage.

A comic doesn’t show up or cancels at the last minute

This is a bigger deal if you have only 3 or 4 comics on the show and two of them have already gone up. There’s a minimum amount of time most places will want a show to run, and you don’t want to give someone more time than they can handle, especially if they’re already on stage. One way to solve this is to have comics check-in by a certain time, and if they’re not there, take them off the show so you can split the remaining time fairly from the beginning. Another solution is to always book one comic that you know can do a lot of time if needed, and don’t put that comic on until the other comics have shown up or told you they’re not gonna make it.

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Producing Your Own Show: The Audience

Producing a show is one of the best ways to get stage time before you’re “passed” at a club or booking consistent road work. When you produce your own show you need to be able to manage four equally important parts: the venue, the comics, people showing up to watch the show (this post) and then running the actual show. This post focuses on the audience and getting them to come to the show.

So you’ve booked a venue and have funny comedians performing on your show? Now you have to worry about the hardest part: getting an audience. Comedy isn’t any fun without people in the seats. While part of how you promote your show depends on the venue it’s at, most of it depends on you and your willingness to market the show (even if it’s a free show).

Here are some common methods to let people know your show exists and that they should come to it:

Flyers

Design a square and vertical flyer that states the date, time, location and description of the show. Photos of the comics also help. As does white space. Canva is your friend.

Timing: Design the fliers as soon as your comics are booked. Post fliers around town 3-5 days before the show. Consider having someone pass out fliers near the venue for an hour before the show to get last-minute “impulse” customers.

Posters At The Venue

This is the best way to get people who already know and like the venue to consider returning for your show. Put up flyers/posters in the bathroom stalls, on tables or in the window. If you can splurge, get a big A-Frame with a 24×36″ poster that can be placed outside the venue. (Make sure to get the venues approval before putting anything up!)

Instagram and Facebook Ads

Meta is a multi-billion dollar company because targeted ads work. After you make a nice flyer, put some money into advertising the show in a small radius for interests that match.

Timing: You generally get early birds buying tickets about 3 weeks out. Then some people buy week of, and half of ticket buyers decide within 48 hours of show time. So spend half your budget the last 96 hours before the show, and half your budget for the 2-3 weeks before that.

Local Event Websites

If you’re in a smaller town (aka not NYC or LA), chances are good that there are multiple websites dedicated to covering events in your area. Most of them accept submissions because they need the content. Patch is one such website. Do a little Googling and you’ll find other.

Timing: As soon as you have a flyer.

Email

If someone has attended a previous show of yours, collect their email address and add them to your mailing list. Then send an email to your list promoting your show. Make sure you don’t do this too often, lest your emails get marked as spam.

Timing: No more than one email per week, and limit to 3 emails per month.

Phone Calls

The good old human touch is most effective and most time consuming. Call your friends and anyone else who was dumb enough to give you their phone number and let them know about the show. That will drastically increase the chances that they show up or never answer your calls again.

Timing: Call people a week or two before the show and just mention the show in conversation. Then call the day before the show to remind them. This is a huge time investment, but if you have the patience, this can be very worthwhile (or at the very least, provide for new material when people start giving you crazy excuses for why they can’t make it).

Have Comics Bring People

You can tell some of the comics that they need to bring x number of people in order to perform. But keep in mind that more established comedians do not do “bringer shows” so this will be more effective with newer comics, which might bring down the quality of the show. (But having no audience also brings down the quality of the show.)

For the professional comedians, just tag them in your social media posts and hope that they repost it.

Timing: Tell the comics when you book them about their bringer requirement so that they have time to invite people and to decide if they still want to do your show. Then the night of the show, keep track of how many people each comic has brought.

Constant Pimping

Whenever you talk to someone, mention your show at some point during the conversation. Hopefully you have some social tact and this isn’t the first or last thing that you discuss with them.

Timing: Always, that’s why it’s called “constant pimping.